shoo flu don't bother us.

I took Cambelle back from to the pediatrician on Monday because her fever really never went away, her throat was still hurting, she was very congested and she sat on the couch ALL weekend and never seemed right... she was getting worse.

Here are the facts about her appointment:

The doctor said her throat actually looked better on Monday then it did on Saturday - so it's not strept.

Her ears are clear

Her lungs are clear

Her nose is clogged

So bottom line - she has the FLU

At first, I was freaking out. Because the word "flu" has me thinking she's going to end up in the ER, but after I questioned the heck out of the doctor, like I always do, she calmed me down and told me some signs to look for just in case she goes quickly down hill.

Since yesterday, nothing has changed. Cambelle's nose is extremely stuffy which makes it very hard for her to breath/sleep. She's sleeping with me (b/c Jeff was away when she first got sick) so I'm up about every hour checking on her like she's a newborn.

She won't nap unless I'm with her, so she's been really cranky... only getting a couple of zzz's on the couch when Chloe is sleeping.

Just today, she's now complaining of her belly hurting, but so far no throwing up. The last time she had a fever was 12am.

The funny thing is that she is getting her flu shot on Saturday (she has to before the 30th, or she can't go back to preschool). So, the shot won't prevent her from getting sick, since she already had the flu.

So, now we are going on the fifth day of being sick. I'm going to call the pediatrician on Thursday if I don't see any signs of her getting better.

PS - Cambelle wore her PJ's to the doctor (picture above) and her boots. She was not getting out of those... she freaked out when I tried to change her.

SICK

Cambelle is sick. Our first sickness of the season. Cambelle woke up last night at 12:30am crying for me and having a hard time swallowing and coughing. The next thing I knew she was throwing up - luckily I got her in her bathroom just in time. Not to be too gross, but it was mostly mucus. Just like when you get a cold and stuff builds in your throat and you don't know what to do with it, well, Cambelle didn't either. So, I'm glad she got it out of her system. She also seemed very hot so I took her temperature and she had one - 104.0.

Since Jeff is away till tomorrow I had plenty of room in my bed for her. So she slept with me. I tossed and turned all night. Watching her like a hawk, checking her head, and recovering her blanket. She seemed to have a temperature all night but refused to take medicine so she was hot then cold, cold then hot.

She slept in late and seemed a little off when she woke up. She was having a hard time talking - her throat was still full of stuff. I was trying to teach her how to clear her throat and that seemed to help a little. I was kinda nervous with all the stuff going around that I decided to call a friend for some advice and she suggested calling the pediatrician just in case she had strept throat.

I called the pediatrician around 11:30 and got an appointment for 1:30. Right before we left she seemed like she was picking up... she was coloring, playing and eating but once we got into the car she hit rock bottom and was feeling sick again.

When I saw the nurse and told her Cambelle's symptoms she immediately said she was going to test for strept. When the doctor came in, she told me her strept test came back negative and it could be viral. Even though Cambelle's throat looked really red... it could be the early stages of strept and she will call in two days if her test changes to positive. The doctor said sometimes it doesn't show up till after 24 hours. So, we'll wait and see.

Cambelle didn't sleep at all today and she just fell asleep on the couch at 5:15PM. My parents were nice enough to take Chloe out for a bit. Having a sick 3 year old and a rambunctious 2 year old, especially Chloe who doesn't sit for anything was making it a hard day. I'm hoping this sickness passes really quick!

Christmas around the house.

So, the house it totally decorated for Christmas. Without my moms help my house would still be in summer mode, but she came over yesterday to help me get situated. She's my secret weapon and does a phenomenal job of decorating. I'm glad she's all mine ;)

But first, here is an ornament I bought for Jeff for this years tree. One of Jeff's really good friends from USC has her own ETSY shop and does a great job at making Christmas ornaments.

This ornament was from Cambelle and Chloe. You can't really see it but it has a heart next to Cambelle's name.

Holla!

Our first ornament. It says - Jeff and Danielle - First Christmas 1996

I'm a little obsessed with pears, so there are a lot of pear ornament on the tree.

Our mantle. I just bought this garland at Home Depot. I love it.

The island centerpiece.

Foyer.

Foyer again.

I've been hunting for pillow for our two rockers out front on the porch forever. And, we finally found them at Target yesterday.

We have two Christmas trees out front - one on the other side. They light up, but I didn't plug them in, because Jeff's in charge of the lights. ;)

Our wreaths. I have one on the other door. I bought these from Home Goods and my mom did her magic by adding more fruits and goodies.

Dining room centerpiece.

Well, that's it. I have tons of other stuff around but their not as fun as this stuff. I hope you enjoyed. Happy Holidays!!!!

The tree is complete.

We finally decorated the tree tonight. The girls had a ball. Cambelle preferred to put all the ornaments on one branch while Chloe happened to pick up all the heavy ones and throw them on the ground. I was excited to see how happy they were to decorate the tree. It's amazing how much a difference a year makes.

(Chloe, which ornament should we pick?)

Yes, the top of the tree is touching the ceiling, but Jeff cut it off and our star is sitting on top now. Also, we had a little friend join our family last night. I was holding the tree up while Jeff was putting it into the stand and I noticed that my hand was very close to a praying mantis. And I mean close. It was the biggest praying mantis I have ever seen... It was the size of a squirrel. Luckily, Jeff was manly enough to capture it in a pot and release into the wild... our backyard.

Ahhh... sisterly love!

Side note - Cambelle LOVES these Princess jammies. I can't ever take them off her and she screams when I wash them. Even though she tells me she's cold when she's sleeping, she still wears them. This girl... she's a trip. She has probably about 12 pairs of jammies, but will only wear these. I have to lie a couple of times telling her that they are in the washer and then, she'll pick another pair.

O Christmas Tree!

Every year, except for last year since we were living with my parents, we head out with the Shipley's to pick out the most perfect Christmas tree. We always go the weekend after Thanksgiving and today just had to be the day. Yes, it was windy but not really that cold. Definitely bearable. We drove about 25 minutes to Mullica Hill to a tree farm we've been to only once. It's behind someones house and I think it's adorable and they had a great selection, Jeff would disagree. But, we found the best tree - one that will withstand our heavy ornaments.

Emma, Cambelle and Chloe all bundled up.

Nicole and Maddie. Maddie did great considering she has a bad cold.

Cambelle was reading the sign... "Unsupervised Children Will Be Recruited for Elves." Signed by, Mrs. Clause.
I thought that was funny.

Chloe was RUNNING down the hill... seriously, she couldn't stop... she just kept running.

My little tree hugger.

Cambelle and Emma running through the trees.
I have to be honest, we did lose them a couple of times, but we'd yell their names and they would come running and say, "coming!"

Ok, after 30-45 minutes, we found it... the perfect tree. I was getting confused and after a while they all looked the same to me. So this is the winner of the Botbyl Family Christmas Tree!

Cambelle and Mommy.

After the owner of the tree farm cut our tree down Jeff dragged the tree to our car and they strapped it on for us.

Well, for now the tree is sitting in our garage and my plan is to decorate it tomorrow night. Pictures to come.

Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving could not have been more relaxing. And, I was slacking on taking pictures, that's how relaxed I was. But here are a few of our wonderful day.

In the morning, we just hung out at home. We flipped between the Philly Parade and Macy's Parade and I think the girls preferred the Macy's parade because they saw Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Ronald McDonald and others that they love.

After the girls took their naps we headed over to my parents for dinner. The girls played with my cousin Brianna and her friend, Anna.

The girls enjoying their turkey-less dinner. They ate corn, potatoes, rolls and oranges.

Chloe was more into the ceiling fan then our picture being taken.

Jeff and I are truly blessed to have these two little girls in our lives. I'm thankful for God choosing me to be a mother, but I'm more thankful for God choosing me to be THEIR mom.

Cake time/2 year facts.

Wednesday was Chloe's 2nd birthday and she was pretty confused about the whole thing. Every time I said "Happy Birthday" to her she would yell, NO! I think she thought her party on Saturday was her birthday. Poor thing... but we had a great day. We didn't do too much, since I couldn't leave the house because we had a painter here and I had a lot of baking to do for Thanksgiving. But, we had have a special dinner at Friendly's with Aunt Chelle, Uncle Matt, Gia, Kaylee and Mackie. Then, after dinner we celebrated back at the house with a Cold Stone pie! Yummy! My parents and Uncle Darryl joined the festivities.

Singing Happy Birthday.

Kaylee was helping Chloe blow out the candles.

Chloe is an extremely fun child. She loves to hug people and give kisses. She loves everyone in her family and speaks about them constantly. She loves to cuddle but only if she has her blankie. She's at the "lovey" stage where she needs to have her "lovies" at all times. Blankie is always the 1st choice, but then she'll choose between her doggie, Blue, bunny, Uniqua or kitty.

She's a great sleeper. Sleeps from 7:30Pm-7:30am and still takes about a two hour nap in the afternoon 1pm-3pm. When she sleeps, her blankie needs to be silky side down and she likes to have at least one other lovie in the mix.

Even though she loves people and loves to be play with other kids, she sometimes is hesitant at first when we meet or join a new group. It takes her a while at parties to warm up to others, but once she's hot she's ready to go on her own.

She likes me to put her to bed. Jeff can only put her to bed if I'm not home, which is close to never. She goes to me when she has a boo boo or needs something. But, goes to Jeff when she wants to play or is hyper ;)

Chloe's speech is getting better. She's learning new words everyday and uses them correctly. She still prefers to moan and point at something, because it's easier, but I make her use her words before I give something to her. Which is helping a lot.

Chloe loves to sign. Her favorite song to sign is Moon, Moon, Moon by Laurie Berkner. She also knows all her ABC's and loves to sing that song. And sometimes I'll hear her sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Cambelle and Chloe have a remarkable relationship. They hardly ever fight over anything and if they do, Cambelle will give in and be the bigger sister. They are lovable little girls and I love watching them respect and love each other.

~~~

Chloe went to the pediatrician on Friday and weighed in at 27.6 pounds (more then Cambelle). She did great. She let the doctor listen to her heart, look in her ears and in her mouth. When the doctor looked into her mouth she said, "Ahhhhhh." It was so funny. I think using the doctors kit we have at home has helped them with all their doctors appointments.

Of course, while waiting, Chloe thought it would be awesome to poop in her diaper. Even though we changed her, the little room became a stink bomb very quickly. I was embarrassed when the doctor came in, but she didn't seem to mind... but I sure did. It burned my eyes.

Chloe got three shots, including her flu, and did wonderfully. She cried a little bit, but we quickly got her dressed and then we were out of there. Within minutes on the road she was out cold. We took the girls to McDonald's for lunch and with the first whiff of a french fry, Chloe was all better.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Chloe! YOU ROCK OUR WORLD!!

Chloe's Birthday Party

We celebrated Chloe's Birthday on Saturday. I'm still in awe that she will be two on Wednesday. I think it was the fastest two years of my life, but also the best.

I'm not a "themed" person, but I couldn't resist Abby Caddaby at Party City. And Chloe was very happy to have a Abby party too. It's all she mentioned while we were in Party City so I cracked and bought all the fun stuff to make it a great party.

(I have to mention, that these pictures are not great... I think being a host, preparing food, and meeting all your guests needs while trying to take pictures is hard... so I did not do good that day with the camera. I'm hoping to take better ones on Wednesday).

Chloe's cake from Sweet Eats

The Birthday Girl!

My cousin, Brianna and Cambelle.

Chloe eating her birthday cake.

Opening up gifts.

Chloe was very happy with her Dora DVD.

And her Dora coloring pad... that Cambelle has now possessed.

Breaking open the Pinata was hilarious. All the kids took a turn hitting poor Abby - Jeff's suggestion - and not a dent was made, so the kids all took a streamer and pulled on the count of 3. But, that still didn't break her... so Jeff pulled open her legs and then the candy came out. I couldn't stop laughing. It was hilarious.

Abby Caddaby - the Pinata!

Thank you everyone who came to the party. We appreciate all of you and it's so nice to have our house full of family and friends who care and love Chloe as much as we do. Thank you!

Build A Bear

While Chloe and I were hanging out, while Cambelle napped, I saw a commercial for Build-A-Bear's new stuffed animals for the holidays and I thought it would be fun to take the girls and scope out their new Build-A-Bear friends. Plus, I wasn't in the mood to cook (shocker), so Jeff and I decided to take the girls to the mall for Chick-Fil-A and then head over to BAB.

*BAB = Build A Bear

I totally thought they'd be interested in either Frosty, Hal the Moose, or Holly the Moose. I mean, they are stinking cute and what better way to get into the holiday spirit? That was one of the reasons for going, to get a fun Christmas stuffed animal... but the girls had their minds set on other animals and how could we say no?

So, Cambelle's new friend is a stuffed dog - no name yet.

Jeff helped Cambelle give her dog a bath before taking him home.

And, Chloe's new friend is a monkey... which is totally her personality, so it's funny she picked him out. Chloe thinks BAB is like the pediatrician.... she immediately remembered where we were once she walked in. She started to cling to me and pointing at the "stuffer machine," saying NO - almost like what she does when the pediatrician walks in the room.

Poor girl, she's deathly afraid of when the stuffer machine goes on. The nice lady even asked Chloe to kiss her heart and Chloe refused. Cambelle, on the other hand, did everything the lady asked... jump up and down three times, put the heart on your heart, your ears, your mouth, your nose, and your cheek and spin around once and finally, kiss you heart one last time before putting it into her doggy.

Then, right before we left we had to brush Mr. Doggy off and make sure he was fluff free...

The girls had a great time and it's always fun to do something with them that we don't do that often.. I mean, we don't need any more stuffed animals around here, but Mr. Monkey and Mr. Doggy fit perfectly into our household.

Side note: Cambelle wouldn't look at Santa when we walked by him at the mall. Odd, isn't it? One minute she sits on his lap and is all about him and the next she won't even look at him, just one glance his way.